The last two months have been the longest months of my life. Della has been sick for two months straight and I am not talking about a little sniffle. We have fought two stomach viruses, croup, and pneumonia. She’s also been to the emergency room three times. You know you’ve visited the ER too much when the admin knows you on sight. Thankfully, Della has a wonderful pediatrician and the ER doctors, nurses, and staff were amazing.

I understand kids get sick and it’s all part of growing up, but, honestly, it seems as if she has been sick the whole year. It doesn’t help that she was a preemie and her immune system is still not quite up to par as term babies. Also, it seems like every time I get her healthy, she goes back to daycare and gets sick again. I know, as she gets older, her immune system will improve and she will get less illnesses. I just hate to see her down and out, not laughing, playing, or eating. I miss her terrorizing her big cousins and leaving a trail of toys from one floor of the house to the other. No parent wants to see their child ill or being stuck with needles in the ER. Every time she goes, I have flashbacks of her in NICU. So, hopefully, no more trips anytime soon.

As of today, my little one is finally healthy and back in daycare, playing with her friends. She’s smiling, playing, and running around with more energy than ever. She’s giving cuddles and wiping kisses. She’s being Della and I am loving every minute of it.

It’s Fall and Halloween, so we had to visit the pumpkin patch at Hill Ridge Farms. The kids had a blast. There was so much for them to do. They had bouncy houses, slides, swings, a giant bouncy pumpkin, animals, games, and FOOD (funnel cakes, ice cream, popcorn, sandwiches, hot dogs,..) The adults were more excited about food but hey, it’s all in the name of making memories.

Della had her first train ride and hay ride with her big cousin, Bre. At the end of the hay ride, the kids went to a giant pumpkin patch and picked out the perfect pumpkin.

Hill Ridge Farms is a great place to take the kids where they can run wild and free and learn in the process. I can definitely say they enjoyed themselves. We can’t wait to go back for the Christmas lights.

I get so many questions about how I get along with Della’s father or how do we make co-parenting work. There’s the “Does he have a say in what you do for her” or ” How do can you stand to talk to him” or the “Don’t you hate him now that you are not together”? People are often surprised by my response.

Yes, he does have a say in her life. I don’t concern him with the routine day-to-day stuff but for important things, like her health or daycare, I do consult him. Now, if he has her and has a question, he calls me and asks for advice. I think it has more to do with her being a girl and he only raised boys. No, we don’t hate each other. We are actually really good friends and we talk all the time and it really helped that we were friends before we had a child together. We have no intentions of ever getting back together. He has moved on with his life and is in a relationship with a wonder person and I have moved on with my life. I actually talk to both him and his wife and there is open communication between all of us.

The most important thing, to him and me, is our daughter knows she is love and wanted. We make sure she is able to talk to either of us whenever she wants. She can call her dad, stepmom, or brothers, at anytime, and they will talk to her or video chat with her. She spends weekends or weekdays, when he’s not working, with her family.

I grew up in a home with both my parents. They were married for almost 40 years, until my dad passed. Even though my dad was in the home, my mom was a single parent in raising us. Now, my dad worked everyday and provided a home for us (my mom also worked just as many or more hours), but he wasn’t there for my sister and me, as a dad. He didn’t show us the love, little kids needed, growing up. We rarely got hugs or conversations, he didn’t ask us about school, boys, the sports we played, and he never came to one game or awards ceremony. So, as you can image, I went looking for that love in the wrong way and caused myself a lot of pain and heartache.

I never want Della to feel the loneliness and hurt I felt growing up. I never want her to wish her dad would hold her, play with her, or say something nice to her. I never want her to feel like she doesn’t matter. He dad shows her all the things, and more, I wished my dad would have shown me. Even her brothers are protective of her and they are much older than her. And yes, she has them wrapped around her finger, and I love it. Our whole family loves it. We don’t want her to feel she needs to look to a boy or man, outside her family, to get the love she is missing from her dad.

So, how do we make co-parenting work- we put our daughter’s needs and wants first. No matter how we feel about each other or if we have disagreements, we always make sure we put her first.

It’s been crazy hot, in NC, and Della and I have not spent as much time in the park as usual. Last Sunday, my little superhero decided she wanted to take pics in the park. So, she got dressed and to the park we went. No, it wasn’t raining, but she loves her rain boots and she thought, just maybe, she would find some muddy puddles to jump in…lol Yes, it was still hot as heck, but anything to see a smile on her little face.

My little angel has decided she doesn’t need to sleep through the night anymore. WTH! Ummm this was not part of the deal! How can she just rewrite our contract like this? Why didn’t I have a say?

For the past month Della has been waking up, multiple times, throughout the night, and that means I am up most of the night. After about 30 minutes to a couple of hours she will fall soundly back to sleep. Not me, nope not gonna happen. I am that person, once awake, will stay awake. No matter how hard I try to go back to sleep, it just doesn’t happen. But once the sleep gods do have mercy on me and I fall into a peaceful slumber – yep you guessed it- she’s right back up.

I know I am not the only parent who’s experienced this. Any ideas on how to get her to sleep through the night again? From one sleepy parent to another, PLEASE HELP!